ATLANTA — Nolan Arenado's dream season has hit a major detour, but the Rockies' third baseman is determined to maneuver around it.

"I already have a game plan on what I need to do — watch film, eat right, study pitchers," he said Saturday. "I can't lose sight of my goal. You just have to find a way to stay involved."

Arenado, 23, fractured his left middle finger while sliding headfirst into second base against the Atlanta Braves on Friday night and was placed on the disabled list. He has a left mallet finger fracture, an injury that will sideline Arenado for at least a month. Arenado will meet with orthopedic surgeon Thomas Graham in Cleveland this coming Friday to determine whether he needs surgery.

"When I slid into the bag, I kind of knew I broke (the finger)," Arenado said. "It didn't feel good, and it started tightening up. So I just had a bad feeling about it."

Manager Walt Weiss said he will likely mix Charlie Culberson, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Rutledge between second and third. Culberson started at third base Saturday and went 2-for-4. Rutledge, called up to fill Arenado's spot on the roster, has not played third base since high school. That leaves LeMahieu's 206 major-league innings at third as the most by an active Rockie.

"DJ has some history at third, but he's playing a Gold Glove second base, so you don't necessarily want to move somebody who is playing dominant defense like he is," Weiss said.

One player who won't be playing third, unless there is an extreme emergency, is Michael Cuddyer. He played a decent third base in stints for the Twins, but he doesn't see himself playing there for Colorado.

"I think I have a better opportunity of playing second rather than third," Cuddyer said with a laugh.

Footnotes. Left fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who missed his third consecutive game because of a sore and swollen left index finger, said he will be in the starting lineup Sunday. However, CarGo plans to see Graham, a hand specialist, when the team gets to Cleveland to see if he can figure out why his finger keeps swelling up. ... Troy Tulowitzki's sixth-inning homer was the first of his career at Turner Field. Tulo has now homered in every active National League ballpark and in 25 of the 30 active ballparks in the majors.

If Morales could bottle his last start, he wouldn't be the biggest question mark in Colorado's rotation. The lefty matched San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner, allowing three runs in six innings in a game the Rockies won 5-4. He struck out six and walked just one. Trouble is, in his previous start at Kansas City, he walked four and need 99 pitches to get through five innings in a Rockies loss. In Teheran, the Rockies face a right-hander who went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts against them last season.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story